The Mess Inside
The Mess Inside is the ninth song on the album All Hail West Texas. Lyrics we took a weekend, drove to Provo. the snow was white and fluffy. but a weekend in Utah won't fix what's wrong with us. the gray sky was vast and real cryptic above me. I wanted you to love me like you used to do. we took two weeks in the Bahamas. went out dancing every night. tried to fight the creeping sense of dread with temporal things. most of the time I guess I felt alright. but I wanted you to love me like you used to do. but you cannot run and you cannot hide, from the wreck we've made of our house, and from the mess inside. we went down to New Orleans one weekend in the spring. looked hard for what we'd lost. it was painful to admit it, but we couldn't find a thing. I wanted you to love me like you used to do. we went to New York City in September. took the train out of Manhattan to the Grand Army stop. found that bench we'd sat together on a thousand years ago when I felt such love for you I thought my heart was gonna pop. I wanted you to love me like you used to do. but I cannot run. and I can't hide. from the wreck we've made of our house. from the mess inside. Comments by John Darnielle About this Song *"This is a song about how you may find yourself in a position where you remember that the love you once had with a person was so wonderful, it was so good, that it seems worth preserving. But you have had that thought rather too late to really do any preserving. But at the same time, you start chasing that notion, it's like, oh, I have to preserve what's there. What you mean is 'regain what's gone'. But you won't listen to me about that, you are- you would rather say, 'oh no, I gotta preserve our love.' No, your love, you left on the corner of Fifth and Broadway, it's not there anymore, goodbye to all that, right? You have to say goodbye to that, but you're not willing, you would rather spend some money on it first." -- 2008-10-13 - Park West - Chicago, IL Things Referenced in this Song Live Shows this Song Was Played at *2000-09-17 - The Make-Out Room - San Francisco, CA *2001-02-10 - The Maintenance Shop - Ames, IA *2001-10-19 - Mission Space - Baltimore, MD *2002-10-23 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA *2004-02-18 - The EARL - Atlanta, GA *2004-02-20 - Will's Pub - Orlando, FL *2004-02-26 - The Maintenance Shop - Ames, IA *2004-03-03 - Knitting Factory - New York, NY *2004-03-25 - Cafe de la Danse - Paris, France *2004-05-26 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA *2005-11-04 - Duke Coffeehouse - Durham, NC *2006-10-31 - Spanish Moon - Baton Rouge, LA *2007-06-16 - Zoop - Farm Sanctuary - Watkins Glen, NY *2008-10-13 - Park West - Chicago, IL *2008-10-15 - The Slowdown - Omaha, NE *2008-10-24 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA *2008-10-25 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA *2008-11-01 - Antones - Austin, TX *2008-11-06 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C. *2008-11-07 - Theater of the Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA *2008-11-08 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY *2009-02-05 - Thursday Concert - Ships and Dip V *2009-03-18 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC *2010-08-28 - Music for Fences - Durham Central Park - Durham, NC *2012-10-14 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY *2012-10-18 - House of Blues - Boston, MA *2012-10-20 - Phoenix Concert Theatre - Toronto, Ontario *2012-10-22 - Fine Arts Center - Calvin College - Grand Rapids, MI *2012-10-27 - The Vic Theatre - Chicago, IL *2012-11-29 - Terminal West - Atlanta, GA *2012-12-03 - Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa, OK *2012-12-13 - Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA *2012-12-14 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA *2012-12-17 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA *2013-07-26 - Newport Folk Festival - Newport, RI *2013-09-14 - Atlantic Ocean Comedy and Music Festival *2014-05-02 - Kresge Recital Hall - Knox College - Galesburg, IL *2017-04-07 - Fowlers Live - Adelaide, Australia *2019-11-24 - Lisboa ao Vivo - Lisbon, Portugal Videos of this Song *2006-10-31 - Spanish Moon - Baton Rouge, LA *2008-10-13 - Park West - Chicago, IL *2009-02-05 - Thursday Concert - Ships and Dip V *2009-03-18 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC *2012-10-18 - House of Blues - Boston, MA *2012-10-27 - The Vic Theatre - Chicago, IL *2014-05-02 - Kresge Recital Hall - Knox College - Galesburg, IL Category:All Hail West Texas songs Category:All Hail West Texas (Remastered) songs Category:Video